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Saturday, February 4, 2012

Capital Punishment

The oldest form of punishment is the death penalty. Sometimes, it is completely necessary for people to die because of their actions. In the United States of America, the death penalty had been used since colonial times. Forms of carrying out the death penalty in the USA are lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas, hanging, and firing squad. Lethal injection and the electric chair are the most common. Since 1976 over 900 executions have been applied in the United States. Capital punishment has been proven to deter crime. Because of this, it should be applied and supported.
Capital punishment should be supported for many reasons. One reason is the Capital Punishment prevents murderers from killing more innocent people. Of released murderers in Oregon, five percent killed more people within five years of being released (Carmical). Each time a murderer is put to death, 3-18 victims lives are spared (Muhlhausen). something that saves lives should be supported. Another reason people should be for Capital Punishment is that we, the taxpayers, pay to keep prisoners alive when the receive the life sentence instead of the death penalty. We pay for their cable, food, schooling, physical activity, and any other extracurricular activities they choose to make use of while they are in jail (Carmical). Tax dollars pay for those expensive, yet free to the prisoners, activities the jails provide, and that is not right. How would you feel if your loved on was murdered and you had to pay all your money keeping the killer alive?
Some people would certainly try to say that Capital Punishment is wrong, but they can easily be disproved. Some might try to say that the state doesn't have the right to kill someone. "The death penalty is the premeditated and cold blooded killing by the state" (Amnesty International). Before the death penalty is even thought about, the criminal is given a fair trial and a jury of 12 individual people must decide beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. Besides, the death penalty was supported by the framers of the constitution, and is allowed to be imposed in the Fifth Amendment (Carmical). Others might argue that the death penalty is not applied fairly. Poor people and African Americans are believed to receive this penalty more than the rich and white people (Carmical). This is not a strong argument against the death penalty, but more so against the justice system and how it is applied. Another wrong-being of this statement is that if it were to be applied fairly, it would be okay to do and use. Even opposers to Capital Punishment can be supportive of it.
I feel that we should all support and/or encourage the death penalty, since it is proven to deter murder. I also strongly recommend that states who have banned Capital Punishment reconsider their decision and lift the ban. People should be for the death penalty because it saves lives. since it saves lives, why not support it?

10) "The Myth Of Innocence"­, Joshua Marquis, pu­blished in the Journal of Criminal Law & Criminolog­y - 3/31/2005, Northweste­rn University School of Law, Chicago, Illinoishttp://jos­hmarquis.b­logspot.co­m/2005/03/­myth-of-in­nocence.ht­ml

4) This is out of date, but corrects a number of the misconceptions about deterrence."Death Penalty and Deterrence"http://homicidesurvivors.com/2006/03/20/the-death-penalty-as-a-deterrent--confirmed--seven-recent-studies-updated-61204.aspx

5) "The Death Penalty: More Protection for Innocents" http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/07/05/the-death-penalty-more-protection-for-innocents.aspx

Of course the death penalty deters. A review of the debate.Dudley Sharp

1) Anti death penalty folks say that the burden of proof is on those who say that the death penalty deters. Untrue. It is a rational truism that all potential negative outcomes deter some - there is no exception. It is the burden of death penalty opponents to prove that the death penalty, the most severe of criminal sanctions, is the only prospect of a negative outcome that deters none. They cannot.

2) There have been 28 recent studies finding for death penalty deterrence. A few of those have been criticized. The criticism has, itself been rebutted and/or the criticism doesn't negate no. 1 or nos. 3-10.

3) No deterrence study finds that the death penalty deters none. They cannot. Anti death penalty columnists Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune states, "No one argues that the death penalty deters none." Yes, some do, But Zorn is correct, the issue is not "Does the death penalty deter?". It does. The only issue is to what degree.

4) About 99% of those murderers who are subject to the death penalty do everything they can to receive a lesser sentence, in pre trial, plea bargains, trial, in appeals and in clemency/commutation proceedings. Life is preferred over death. Death is feared more than life. No surprise. Would a more rational group, those who choose not to murder, also share in that overwhelming fear of death and be deterred by the prospects of execution? Of course.

5) There are a number of known cases of individual deterrence, those potential murderers who have stated that they were prevented from committing murder because of their fear of the death penalty. Individual deterrence exists.

7) Even the dean of anti death penalty academics, Hugo Adam Bedau, agrees that the death penalty deters .. . but he doesn't believe it deters more than a life sentence. Nos. 4-6 and 10 provide anecdotal and rational evidence that the death penalty is a greater deterrent than a life sentence. In addition, the 28 studies finding for deterrence, find that the death penalty is an enhanced deterrent over a life sentence.

8) All criminal sanctions deter. If you doubt that, what do you think would happen if we ended all criminal sanctions? No rational person has any doubt. Some would have us, irrationally, believe that the most severe sanction, execution, is the only sanction which doesn't deter.

9) If we execute and there is no deterrence, we have justly punished a murderer and have prevented that murderer from ever harming/murdering, again. If we execute and there is deterrence, we have those benefits, plus we have spared more innocent lives. If we don't execute and there is deterrence, we have spared murderers at the cost of more innocent deaths.

10) Overwhelmingly, people prefer life over death and fear death more than life.

"If we execute murderers and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have killed a bunch of murderers. If we fail to execute murderers, and doing so would in fact have deterred other murders, we have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims. I would much rather risk the former. This, to me, is not a tough call."

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